


One Night

by Steveuschrist



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Almost in love but not yet, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Best Friends, Dorks, Fluff, Friendship, Gay Panic, Gay Science Husbands, Jeremiah is really falling, Light Angst, M/M, No Plot/Plotless, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 08:58:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17505554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steveuschrist/pseuds/Steveuschrist
Summary: Jerome is dead and Bruce lets Jeremiah stay with him for a night.





	One Night

“GCPD, everybody get back!” 

Jeremiah walked towards the car. It was dark, but he could see the outline of a body on the car from the minimal amount of light in the street. 

Jerome. 

He felt like he couldn’t look away, he had to make sure- he had to know he was dead. He returned Jim’s look for a moment, then hastily turned away, rubbing his eye and walking past the car and the detectives. 

“Mr. Valeska..”

He almost didn’t see Bruce there. 

He stopped and turned, looking over at the younger man. Well, it wasn’t his fault that he hadn’t seen Bruce- he was wearing all black and it was night. 

“I meant what I said about your work being of importance to this city.” Bruce said, and he stepped towards him. “Let Wayne Enterprises fund your work with a grant.” 

Jeremiah stared him for a second, then looked down hastily. A grant? For his work? “Thank you.” 

Bruce gave him a slight nod, and before Jeremiah could turn away, he was speaking again. “Are you going back to your bunker?”

Jeremiah nodded. “It’s late, I need to get some sleep before we start working.” 

“That’s not what I meant.” Bruce replied. “I.. today was a hard day. I don’t want to seem overbearing, but if you don’t want to be alone.. I have plenty of room at the manor.” 

“Are you serious?” Jeremiah asked a bit too quickly, and maybe just a bit too loudly. “I mean.. I.. we’ve only just met..” 

“There’s a great deal that I wish that my parents were able to teach me, but they did teach me to be hospitable to someone in need.” Bruce gave him the smallest of smiles. “Especially a friend in need.” 

Jeremiah ducked his head for a moment. “Then.. I’ll gladly take you up on the offer.” 

Friends.. They were friends. 

***

Bruce and Jeremiah entered the manor silently, but as soon as Bruce stepped into the kitchen a voice rang out. 

“Master Bruce, I heard the news. He’s actually-” Alfred entered into the kitchen, and his eyes fell upon Jeremiah. “Oh.. didn’t know you’d be bringing company over, Master B. My apologies, Mr. Valeska.” 

“Oh, it was last-minute.” Jeremiah replied. “Bruce.. Didn’t want me to feel alone.” 

Alfred nodded once. “Right, then. I’ll set up a guest room for you. And there’s food in the fridge if you two’ll be wanting any.” 

“Thank you. Alfred.” Bruce said, nodding to him. When he left, Bruce walked towards the cabinets. “Something to drink? Water? Tea? Uh, I think we even have leftover coffee..” 

Jeremiah glanced around the kitchen, and his eyes fell upon Bruce. “Oh, just water.” His eyes looked over Bruce’s form: tall and skinny, but there were probably muscles hidden under those dark clothes he was wearing. 

He almost didn’t realized Bruce was offering him a glass of water. He cleared his throat lightly and took it from him. “Thank you.” 

Bruce was pulling something out of a cabinet- a tea bag. “No problem.. Are you feeling alright, Jeremiah?”

“I… honestly I’m not quite sure.” Jeremiah replied. He actually felt safe here. Felt safe in this room. Felt safe with Bruce. 

Bruce was filling up a pitcher of some kind with water. “I don’t mean to push, but even though you hated Jerome.. He was still your brother.” 

Jeremiah looked up at him. “How am I supposed to feel, Bruce?”

Bruce set the pitcher down on the counter and looked back up to Jeremiah. “You don’t have to feel a certain way. You don’t have to feel anything right now.” 

“When your parents.. How did you feel at first?”

“It was just.. Pain.” Bruce replied. “When Jim found me I was.. I was cold. I felt alone.. But numb. Like I couldn’t really feel anything. And the next day.. Anger.. I was so mad at everything and everyone.” He plugged the pitcher into an outlet, and Jeremiah figured it was a teapot of sorts. 

“But when the service happened.. That’s when it all fell apart.” Bruce tapped the teapot, staring down at it. “I wanted people to mourn for my parents.. Remember all the good they did.. Their dreams..” 

Bruce looked back up at Jeremiah, and Jeremiah saw something in his eyes. Rage. 

“But when I was listening to people… all they were talking about.. was me. How bad they felt for me. How it would effect me. My parents were the ones who died, and everyone was talking about their son, the boy who survived the mugging. The boy who had no parents. So.. I learned to fight back. Take that pain and anger and help people.” 

Jeremiah blinked. “You want to join the police?” 

Bruce froze at that, and he lightly laughed, rubbing his arm. “Oh, I don’t know about that. I’ve got Wayne Enterprises. I’m not cut out to be a cop.” 

“Sounds like you’ve been training for a while. And at the bunker when you talked about standing up to terror..” Jeremiah sipped his water. “It didn’t sound like you were just talking about confronting Jerome. So.. if being a cop is off the table.. And you want to stay in Gotham.. What’s your plan?” 

“I wish it were that simple.” Bruce replied. 

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t be a cop. That order and.. I can’t do guns.” Bruce replied. “And I can help with fundraisers, charity work, but.. the streets are where it really starts.” 

Jeremiah raised his eyebrows. “What? Bruce, are you kidding me?”

Bruce pulled a mug from one of the cabinets. “What?”

“You can’t really mean fighting on the streets.” Jeremiah insisted. “The people in Gotham? They’re crazy. Penguin, that Riddler guy.. With Jerome gone the streets are probably in an even crazier state than usual.” 

“It’s what I have to do.” Bruce replied, pouring some of the water from the teapot into his mug. 

“Is it?” 

Jeremiah paused, fully realizing how odd he was acting. He suddenly felt so protective of Bruce. Bruce placed the tea bag into the water. “You’re worried, I know. Alfred’s going to have my neck when I tell him I’ll continue..” Bruce shook his head. “But I have training. I have armor.” 

“They’ve got guns, Bruce.” Jeremiah said, taking a step towards him. “And operating outside of the law is illegal. You can’t just be a vigilante.” 

“And why not?” Bruce asked, staring at him intensely. “Give me one decent reason why I shouldn’t. I have the strength to do so, I have gadgets and armor, I can hide my identity. Give me a good reason.” 

“Because you’re my friend and if something happens to you then everything will fall apart!” Jeremiah snapped, causing Bruce to take a step back. “We’re supposed to change the world together, Bruce. Build cleaner energy devices together. If you die or go to jail there goes my funding and my partner and my friend.” 

Bruce stared over at him, and Jeremiah felt a blush creeping up his face. Idiot, now look what you’ve done! You sound like a creep who’s obsessed with him! 

“You can see the armor, if you want.” Bruce said after a moment. “If you think that will help your nerves.” 

Jeremiah raised his eyebrows. “That.. yeah, I’d like that.” 

Bruce left for a few minutes only to return with a briefcase. He placed it on the counter and popped it open. Jeremiah pulled out the first thing he saw- the top piece. “Bulletproof.. Strong… flexible..” He looked up and Bruce was looking through the fridge. “But you’ll need something stronger. I don’t know how many bullets and stabs this can take.” 

Bruce straightened up, pulling something covered in aluminum foil out of the fridge. “Can you make something?”

“With enough time and materials, yes..” Bruce would need a flexible underlayer with a harder, sturdier outer layer. 

“How much?”

“I’ll have to take measurements and determine how much I need.. Then making it will be another process altogether.” Jeremiah shook his head. “I can’t eyeball it.”

“Spaghetti?”

“What?” Jeremiah looked up at him, then realized the plate had the aluminum foil off of it. It was spaghetti. “Oh.. uh, please.” 

Bruce dumped it all onto a larger plate, then put it in the microwave. “And maybe a new mask. The one Alfred made for me offers almost no physical protection.” He started the microwave then sat down next to Jeremiah. “Maybe you can just take a mould or cast of it and go over it with new material?” 

Jeremiah was slightly taken aback by their closeness, one second Bruce was at the microwave, the next he was perched on the stool next to his. Jeremiah realized he was staring at Bruce’s face, subconsciously trying to figure out the shape of his head, his jaw. 

They’d practically just met, but Jeremiah felt like he’d known Bruce forever. There was something between them, something he’d never felt before. Bruce was looking over at him, and Jeremiah finally noticed his eyes were green, and he saw just how curly Bruce’s hair really was. 

“Why do you trust me with your ideas for making Gotham safer?” Jeremiah asked him. 

“Why did you trust me with keeping you safe here?” Bruce asked. “I trust you because I know that you understand, Jeremiah.” 

Jeremiah’s gaze fell. “And I trust you because I know that you understand.” 

He felt so close to Bruce now, but he knew they weren’t that close. Their knees were touching, but there was a good amount of space between their bodies. Still, Jeremiah was close enough to where he could see how dark his eyelashes were. He could see Bruce’s lips move to say something- 

Jeremiah practically jumped as the microwave went off, and either Bruce wasn’t surprised or he hid it by getting up to stop it. “Thank god, I’m starving.” 

The plate was placed almost right in front of Jeremiah, and Bruce handed him a fork and napkin. “Is this homemade?”

“Alfred made it.” Bruce replied, sitting next to him. 

“Wow.. I haven’t had a real homemade meal in.. a long time.” Jeremiah said softly. “I’m a terrible cook.” 

“Oh, just talk to Alfred. He’s amazing.” Bruce stuffed a forkful into his mouth. “Oh, I needed this after today.” 

Jeremiah tried some, and he gave Bruce a small smile. “Wow, it’s really good. Can you cook like this?”

“Oh, I’m like 75-25 when it comes to my cooking coming out well.” Bruce replied. “It’s.. I’m not great at it. Takes time and practice to get good at it.” 

“I never really had time to just stop and try to figure it out.” Jeremiah said. “There aren’t large appliances in the bunker, no oven or anything.” 

He trailed off as he continued to eat. After a minute or so of silence he spoke again. “How did Alfred know to leave servings for two of us?”

“Oh, he didn’t.” Bruce replied. “He just left all the leftovers and probably expected me to eat most of it. Or all of it.” 

Jeremiah glanced at the plate, then back at Bruce. “The whole thing?”

“I.. have quite the appetite, I guess.” 

At that moment, Jeremiah’s phone went off. He put his fork down and slipped it out of his pocket, then answered it. 

“Ecco?”

 

“Are you alright? Where are you?”

“I’m.. staying with Bruce for the night. Don’t worry about me.”

“You’re spending the night outside of the bunker?” She asked, a slight edge hinting at her voice. 

“Yes, but I’m safe. Jerome is..” Jeremiah paused, then shook his head. “He’s gone. I’ll see you tomorrow, alright?”

“You’re spending the night at a stranger’s house.” 

“He’s.. he’s not a stranger, Ecco.” 

She gave a soft sigh. “Goodnight, Jeremiah.” 

“Goodnight, Ecco.”

He hung up, and glanced over at Bruce. “She doesn’t trust you.” 

Bruce shrugged. “It’s alright. You two’ve been together for a long time, I understand.” 

“Together?”

“Yeah, you and her… the bunker..” Bruce trailed off. “No?”

“Ecco’s a great friend. I don’t know where I’d be without her. But we’re just friends.” 

“Oh, I see.” 

An awkward silence came over them once again as they ate. Bruce began to slurp up a particularly long noodle just as Jeremiah began to do the same with another.

Suddenly, Jeremiah felt a tugging on the noodle, and before he realized it he and Bruce were face-to-face. Their foreheads bumped together lightly and Jeremiah’s eyes widened when he realized their lips were touching. 

He broke off first, a blush hitting his face as he turned away from Bruce. “S-sorry! I didn’t mean..” 

Bruce slurped up the rest of the noodle and shook his head. “No, it’s fine. It’s alright. I should’ve realized and pulled away sooner.” 

Jeremiah adjusted his glasses. “I’m just.. Nevermind.” 

Bruce tilted his head as he went for another bite of pasta. “What?”

“I’m.. not the most extroverted person. I don’t want to ruin our friendship.” 

“An accidental kiss won’t ruin our friendship, Jeremiah. I don’t even think that counts.” 

They finished the pasta and then moved from the kitchen into the living room. A fire was going. Jeremiah was reminded of his childhood for some strange reason. He remembered the times when he would find Jerome with a magnifying glass, killing little bugs or ants with the sun’s rays.

“Are you sure ok?” Bruce asked Jeremiah, frowning at him slightly. 

“I think so for now. Why?” Jeremiah replied. 

“You just look a little pale.” 

Jeremiah sighed softly. “I’m thinking about Jerome again. I.. what if he’s really..” 

Bruce put a hand on Jeremiah’s shoulder. “Jeremiah. He’s gone. We all saw his body, and now that the people who preserved his body are gone, he’ll likely be cremated soon.” 

Jeremiah felt comforted by Bruce’s touch. “They’ll ask me to come and identify him tomorrow.” 

“Probably not. We all knew who he was. They won’t need you.” 

Jeremiah shook his head. “I feel.. I’m happy, but I’m also sad.” He said softly. “I hated him.. He was terrible.. He hurt so many, killed so many… but I feel like part of me is gone now. Am I a bad person for feeling that way?”

“No. I told you, you don’t have to feel a certain way. Grief is different for all of us.” Bruce said. 

“I.. having to walk up on that stage.. There were bombs on us.. And he gave me a knife.. I..” Jeremiah looked at Bruce. “I wanted to kill him, Bruce. I tried to kill him.” 

“I know, but you didn’t.” Bruce said. He pulled Jeremiah’s shoulder and guided him to one of the couches. “You didn’t, and that’s what matters. I’ll be honest, I almost killed the man who killed my parents. I was so angry, I took a gun and everything, it was loaded, my finger was on the trigger.. Then I realized that he was a man. He wasn’t a monster- he was a man. Killing him wouldn’t change anything. That’s when I first truly vowed to myself: no killing. It doesn’t make us better than the ones who instill fear in people’s hearts. Revenge isn’t the solution, but avenging is.” 

Jeremiah leaned into the back of the couch. He and Bruce were close again, but Jeremiah enjoyed being so close to him. 

“You look exhausted.” He said softly, and Bruce quirked an eyebrow. 

“Oh, I’m sure it’s just.. actually, I don’t have a good excuse.” Bruce replied. “Today was rough. Like you said, we had bombs around our necks. Snipers were on the roofs and then the plan failed. I was.. I was honestly ready to die there. Maybe I could’ve helped save the city. Maybe if Jerome had killed me he’d be so happy celebrating that Jim could get a shot in..”

“But you didn’t die. I didn’t die.” Jeremiah placed his hand on Bruce’s arm, but he pulled it back when Bruce made a face of discomfort. “Oh, Bruce, I-” 

“It’s not you.” Bruce said, looking from his arm to Jeremiah. “A little over a year ago, when Jerome broke everyone out of Arkham, he kidnapped me and took me to a circus. That’s when his face was really all messed up, he was stapling it back on.. I was so stupid. I asked him if it hurt.. of course it hurt, I just wanted him to get pissed off. He responded by stapling my arm three times.” 

Jeremiah’s eyes widened. “Bruce.. that’s..” 

“I turned it into a good thing, at least. He had me handcuffed and I picked the lock to escape a horrible death.” Bruce pulled back his sleeve and held his arm out. “The scars have faded, but I still feel it sometimes.”

“Doesn’t help that I look like Jerome.” Jeremiah replied bitterly. 

“You’re not like him. He was delusional.” Bruce replied. “He was even beyond that.”

“I worry that I’ll turn into him. That he was right. That we’re the same.” Jeremiah looked down at Bruce’s arm. “That I’ll do something like that to you.” 

Bruce pulled his sleeve down. “You won’t. You won’t turn into him. You won’t hurt me.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I can’t. All I can do is hope that nothing bad will happen to you. And hope that if something does happen that you can be saved.” 

Jeremiah gave a slight nod. “It’s.. it’s late. I should be getting to bed.” 

Bruce stood up with him. “Yeah, you’re right. Here, I’ll bring you upstairs, if you’d like. Alfred should be done with your bed.” 

Bruce led Jeremiah out of the room, down the hall, and up a set of stairs. Alfred was nowhere to be seen, so Bruce peeked into all of the rooms until he found the right one. 

“This is it.” He pushed open the door a little. “Bathroom’s that door to the left, we have spare toothbrushes and everything like that.” He pointed to a door further down the hall. “That’s my room, I’ll be in there if you need anything. Goodnight, Jeremiah.” 

He turned to leave, but Jeremiah gently grabbed his wrist. “Bruce.” 

Bruce looked back at him. “Yes?”

Jeremiah hesitated before he came forward and pulled Bruce into a hug. Bruce returned the hug, lightly patting Jeremiah’s back. When Jeremiah pulled back, Bruce was giving him a small smile, and he saw some pink cross Bruce’s cheeks. 

“Thank you for letting me stay here.” Jeremiah said softly. “Thank you for.. for being kind to me. For listening to me.” 

“Likewise, Jeremiah. Goodnight.” 

“Goodnight, Bruce.” 

Jeremiah slipped into his room, gently closing the door behind him.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this all in one day, wew. I decided not to rush the romance between them, but I will write romance/established relationship for them soon, I promise! The crossover is still taking priority in my line of fics to write, but I knew I could bang this out in one day and wanted to get it down.   
> As always, thanks for reading!


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